Energy crisis: Ventilate properly - This is how consumers save money

Created: 10/03/2022 11:59 am

Tenants can prevent mold growth by properly ventilating their living space.

This is not only recommended for your own health, but also helps to save on heating costs.

Munich/Rostock ‒ In view of the exploding energy prices, it can take effort to adequately ventilate the expensively heated rooms.

Ventilation is not only important for a pleasant level of humidity, which ensures a good and healthy sleep, especially in the bedroom.

Regular air exchange also prevents excess humidity from settling on the walls, where it can form mold that is hazardous to health.

"If rooms are heated less, the risk of mold increases there," warns Matthias Wagnitz from the Central Association for Sanitary, Heating and Air Conditioning.

Because while heated air can absorb and bind moisture well, humid air condenses more easily on the colder walls in less heated rooms.

Experts like Wagnitz therefore recommend ventilating houses and apartments intensively for around five to ten minutes at least in the morning and evening.

Cross ventilation is the most effective.

To do this, all windows and doors in the living area must be open so that a draft can develop.

Ventilate properly: Tilted windows make little sense

"A four-person household releases six to twelve liters of water into the indoor air every day," says Arian Freytag from the consumer advice center in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

This moist air should be replaced by dry, oxygen-rich air from outside - especially if you want to heat the room less in order to save money.

Tenant scrapes the moldy wallpaper off the wall.

(symbol image) © imago

On the other hand, it is of little use to only leave the windows tilted.

As a result, rooms cool down unintentionally from the inside out, says Matthias Wagnitz.

At the same time, only a little fresh air gets into the room due to the narrow tilt position of the window.

However, as soon as moisture settles on the window panes or the walls, the room should be aired.

Ventilate properly: switch off the heating during ventilation

Consumer advisors like Arian Freytag recommend "switching off the heating completely during the ventilation phase".

Because if the thermostatic valve was turned on, it would immediately try to keep the room temperature stable, even against the inflowing cold air.

"So you heat more warm air directly out of the open window."

It makes much more sense to only turn on the radiators again after they have been ventilated, so that they quickly return to the desired comfortable temperature.

"However, rooms should not cool below 16 degrees Celsius, because then the risk of mold increases significantly," explains Freytag.

Ventilate properly: More plants, more people mean more ventilation

According to expert advice, apartments in which laundry is often dried indoors, which have several residents or in which there are many indoor plants must be ventilated more intensively.

The age and condition of the property also play a role.

In older buildings, a certain exchange of air takes place partly through the windows, which are not entirely airtight, explains Wagnitz.

In the meantime, however, most of the buildings are well insulated and the windows are insulated.

“Moist air can stay here for a long time.

That’s why regular airing is all the more important here.”

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Most of the buildings are now well insulated and the windows are insulated.

Humid air can stay here for a long time.

Regular airing is therefore all the more important here.

Matthias Wagnitz from the Central Association for Sanitary, Heating and Air Conditioning

It gets annoying "when a room first smells musty".

Then it's usually too late, says Wagnitz.

A so-called hygrometer or a ventilation light helps preventively.

"They show the humidity in a room quite reliably and thus prevent too little or too much ventilation." Wagnitz recommends a humidity of between 40 and 60 percent, which most people find pleasant and keeps the risk of mold low.

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